Scorched Earth - Robert Muchamore Page 0,67

sewers and incinerated with flamethrowers. Those captured alive were hanged, or strapped to German vehicles and used as human shields.

‘As soon as the projector batteries are charged, I’ll be showing you some remarkable film footage smuggled out of Warsaw by a Swiss journalist. This footage is extremely graphic. Once you’ve seen it, I hope that you’ll drop any thoughts of a premature uprising.’

A communist leader in the audience shot to her feet. ‘The Germans have massive reinforcements heading to Paris from Germany. If we give them time, they’ll wire our city with explosives and we’ll be left fighting over rubble.’

‘The Warsaw resistance was weak,’ a voice out of the dark added.

There were several murmurs of agreement before another leader shouted, ‘Colonel Hawk, is it true that the Americans plan to bypass Paris, leaving us to our fate while your tanks ride on towards Germany?’

‘I don’t know the intimate details of the American battle plan,’ Hawk replied.

‘Then what’s the point you being here?’ someone shouted.

‘It would be ludicrous for me to be dispatched behind enemy lines if I had detailed knowledge of the Allied battle plan,’ Hawk explained.

Henderson got to his feet and spoke in Hawk’s defence. ‘The prime goal of the Allied armies is to reach Berlin and end the war in the shortest possible time. The idea of bypassing Paris and leaving its population in a siege situation with desperate German forces is not a pleasant one. But the Allies can’t afford to get bogged down in a street-by-street battle through a city of five million people.’

‘Is that the official British position?’ someone shouted.

Henderson sounded irritated. ‘Of course it isn’t. I’m just stating the obvious fact that there’s no tactical reason for the Allies to spend weeks fighting through the streets of Paris.’

‘And the Parisians are left to starve and be slaughtered?’ someone shouted.

Henderson and Hawk both sensed that they were losing the argument as applause broke out.

‘I for one will not stand by while Paris burns,’ a beefy communist woman shouted.

Hawk sensed the room turning against him and tripped on his words. ‘I … You must, er, watch the film. I beg you to watch the footage from Warsaw. If you rise up too soon, thousands will die unnecessarily.’

‘No, no, no!’ the beefy woman shouted, stamping dramatically with each word. ‘I have no wish to sit through your American propaganda film. The Allies are within twenty-five kilometres of Paris. If they don’t have the guts to take our city, we’ll take it for ourselves.’

Cheers and clapping erupted as the woman set off for the exit. Paul was surprised to see that even a couple of Maxine’s Ghost Circuit deputies were applauding the communist.

‘I’m leaving,’ the communist woman shouted. ‘I say we strike, we bomb, we harass. Better to die fighting, than die of starvation after a siege like Stalingrad.’

Maxine stood up and blocked the woman’s exit. ‘No,’ Maxine said. ‘Please listen. There should be no resistance uprising until the Allies give us a signal. We have no heavy weapons. If we start fighting the Germans will rip us apart.’

The beefy woman was a good ten years younger than Maxine and looked genuinely sad as she faced her off.

‘Maxine, you’ve been a great leader for Paris,’ the communist said. ‘But you are wrong about this. It’s time to stand up and fight. You’ve become so addicted to British and American assistance that you have become their pawn.’

Maxine looked devastated as the woman left the meeting, followed by a dozen other communist leaders, plus representatives of resistance groups within the railways and public utilities such as electricity and water.

When the walkout ended, a representative of the police officers’ union stepped up to Henderson and Maxine.

‘I’m inclined to agree with your position on this,’ he began. ‘But things are moving beyond our control. The city’s civilian administrators have been sent home and replaced by a fanatical Nazi general named Von Choltitz. One of his first orders was to disarm all French police officers, because they can no longer be trusted. There’s a meeting later tonight, but our men aren’t going to hand over their guns. The police will be going on strike. The railway workers have promised to do the same and I expect other groups to follow.’

Maxine looked shocked. ‘With a general strike and no police on the streets, the communists will start an uprising for sure.’

Colonel Hawk had overheard and hurried over to them, sounding desperate. ‘Is there nothing you can do?’

‘There’s going to be a vote,’ the policeman